First, when someone tells you something that is "definitive" you need to consider the source.

Did the person who told you that the seeds wouldn't be true grow them out themselves, are they the breeder, or someone repeating the dogma that hybrids aren't stable?

There is profit in stability. If Campari is patented it must be able to reproduce itself asexually with apomictic seeds.

I found two references from the same website I am linking to below, in one reference the site says the tomato doesn't produce seeds or is infertile or won't produce truly (which appears to be evidently wrong) and they also say the tomato is plum shaped (Campari looks more round than not to me, and problably everyone else too)--you really seriously need to take some of the info at that website (and others) with a grain of salt the size of a cowlick. IMHO, it's always, ALWAYS best to trust your own eyes rather than rely on any one particular website or the cut and paste copies of similar information elsewhere because more often than not throughout the internet info gets copied and reproduced without fact checking.

Seed Collecting:
N/A: plant does not set seed, flowers are sterile, or plants will not come true from seed

The link below is a personal-type page and is proof that Camparis do produce seed, and the photo and comments seem to give the impression that the growout was quite satisfactory.

Here is a link that might be useful: Campari growout photo and comment

Thank you Paul, those are great picts! Did you think that the Campari you grew was the same as the tomatoes you saved seeds from--to my eyes the shape and color are the same--would you say that the taste was the same?

Trudi

Here is a link that might be useful: Porterhouse, Campari, Beefy Boy

I also have a few Campari seedlings started from store bought toms. I'm glad to hear they're early.

Hi trudi d, Yes, I thought they were exactly the same, except that they were really firm. I seem to pick them too fast and should let them ripen more on the vines. This years plants will be from my last years seeds, then I will see how true they are. It will be interesting to see if they are the first of the season again this year. On a side note, how did you put in the "Here is a link that might be useful" in your reply? I couldn't seem to figure that out to put in my reply. Probably something simple, right? Paul

I saved seeds from store bought Campari and started seeds which ended up in my neighbors garden. The fruit appeared to be true and I noticed that it did have a long shelf life. I didnt get the opportunity to taste one that was completely vine ripened though. The ones I tasted still had some green on the inside even after a week on the counter.

Hi Paul,

You need to hit "preview" first to see the text you've written and then you'll see below your post a place to put in a link and a title.

Hope this helps,

Trudi

Thanks This years seed needs to be dried for next year correct? These lil buggers are so delicious, cant wait!!!
Wish it was this year.
Jackie

Jackie,

I find that drying fresh tomato for a few days and then sowing will produce great results--you don't have to wait a year to sow them.

T

Paul,
What size pot did you have your Campari in, and how tall did they get? I'm trying to decide if I want mine in the ground or a container. They're only a few inches tall right now, but I thought I should have a plan. Thanks!

Hi noinwi, Last year I used a pot that was 20" across by 16" deep. This year I will try the Campari in a 16" across by 14" deep. I want to try some eggplants in the larger pot this year. The Campari get between 3 - 4 feet tall.

trudi d, Sorry for being so dense, but where do you find the Optional Link URL and Name of the Link? For example, what did you put in when you supplied that link, above? It's tough getting old! Paul

The picture of those Campari look fantastic.

Tell me, what store do you find them in? I checked at our BJ's tonight, but they dont have them. Did someone say they got them at Stop n Shop? Are they in a bag or loose or in cello? I would love to try growing a few and if I think they might have, them I am willing to brave a Saturday or Sunday morning trek into a madhouse style Stop-n-Shop,LOL.

Paul, whenever you reply to a message you put in your text in the message area.

Below that message area you will see:

Optional Link URL:

Name of the Link:

Where it says 'Optional Link URL' you need to paste in the URL of the link you want people to go to.

Where is says 'Name of the Link' you put in some text that describes/names what you are linking to.

As an example I'll show you how I link to my GardenWeb Member Trade Page...

Optional Link URL: http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch/trudi_d

Name of the Link: Trudi's Exchange Page

Here is a link that might be useful: Trudi's Exchange Page ~ It's abfab for sure ;-)

Sunnyk,

I've seen them at Sam's club, Sprouts,and Kroger's if you have those in your neck of the woods. I bought a whole bunch of them last year and was eating between 4-6 by myself everyday! They are sooo delicious. I saved seeds and planted some this year. They are by far the healthiest plants i have so far. I hope they give me lots and lots of yummy little toms this year. Can't wait!
jenn

sunnyk, StopNShop has Campari, I know Costco has them, and if you are near a Stew Leonards (Norwalk, CT, Danbury, CT, or Yonkers, NY), I saw them there last week. They come in those little plastic baskets like strawberries come in.

trudi d, Thanks, I see how it's done now and I will try it next time I have a need for it. Thanks for your help!

Paul.

Glad I could help Paul.

I get a large tray of Campari at BJs. For a store tomato they're quite good.

Thanks guys...I am off to my Stop n Shop :)

Wish me luck LOL!

Well, sunnyk? Did you get them? Start eating them so you can get those seeds going soon! Paul

No, I didnt get them :( I went and found them at Stop n Shop, but they werent really looking all that ripe. And maybe I am a miser, but I couldnt stand to pay 5 dollars for a basket of orangey tomatoes LOL!! I bet by the end of the week I will change my mind and go back and get them though LOL.

sunnyk, click on my username and send me an e-mail with your address and I will send you some seed. Or you can take a ride over the TZ Bridge to my house and you can have some plants! Now how good is that offer? Paul

Cool, Thanks...sending you an e-mail! :)

Would anyone be kind enough to send me some saved seed over here to the UK, London ? We had a terrible summer last year and I lost all my tomato plants with blight. The seed is not available here in Europe, I've only seen them sold in the USA.

thanks, Steve

Thanks to rocklandguy, it looks like I am going to get to try my very own Campari tomatoes this season ...I am assuming these will be F2 plants right...well no worries either way LOL!! I cannot believe that they grew as fast as they did. I planted them using the Winter/Spring Sowing method, and while I have failed at all my other seeds done this way, the tomatoes seemed to love this method. So anywho, I sowed 4 of the seeds on or around April 24th, and it looked like our cruddy weather was going to hamper them from growing. They seemed stuck in a rut for the first few weeks, at around 2 weeks or so, 3 sprouted, and then stayed at the baby leaf stage for a while. Right around the end of May, 2 kicked into high gear and put on a lot of growth, so when they hit 6 inches tall the nicest one went in the garden where in the last 2 weeks it has grown 12 more inches and as of today it looks like it is forming its first tiny buds!! The other 2 are in pots, one a big pot which will be its home, and the other in a smaller holding pot , as it is not as healthy looking and I don't know what I am going to do with it yet .

So Thanks You Rocklandguy for the generous gift of these seeds, and to you too Trudi for the gift of Winter Sowing!!

Thank you Sunny,

Each year you WS it just gets easier and easier. Even if you do the same things the way you did the first year your germination percentages will rise--that's because you learn along the way to do just a little twekaing here and there--and it is the tweaking which allows the method to work for everyone's own location and (micro)climate, container containers, soil and choice of seeds. With WS you find your own way ;-) For me, it's the only way I'll start my tomato seeds--I like the awesome root systems the method fosters. BTW, I've got my first green mater showing on one of my toms--I spied it today; it's a little wee thing sbout the size of a pencil eraser but I expect it will get much larger ;-)

T

There seems to be some vast confusion somewhere along the line, re- the photo's of Campari plants growing in the first set of photo's, the tomatoes look quite large, and are hanging in clusters.

And yet sections of the (Enza Zaden ) website over here in the UK shows and promotes (their creation) of Campari as being a cherry tomato of only 50 to 55 grams in weight and hanging in longish trusses of about a dozen tomatoes per truss which are used as a cut the whole truss off trade of vine tomatoes on the vine.

Since the Campari tomato was developed and marketed originaly by the dutch firm Enza Zaden, I cant possibly see the link with Campari marketed in Canada and the resulting photo's of this much larger tomato they are calling Campari on this thread, to me they seem to be two totally different types and size of tomatoes,under the same name, personaly speaking I would prefer the ones shown in the photo's at the beginning of this thread and would certainly like to obtain some seeds from those plants, whatever they actually are- the real Campari or not ????.

The Camparis I have seen sold at the grocery store here are probably the size of a golf ball or in the 2.5 to 3 ounce
(70-85 gram) range. Not exactly cherry tomatoes but more like saladette tomatoes. Of course I like the look in the above picture myself, LOL...I am just excited to see what I get.

If they are good, I will most likely save some seeds and would be happy to share with you ...of course there is no guarentee of what comes from them :) So drop me a line this Fall :)

Hello I grew Campari last year.Got the plant in the Choptag trade. It was a smaller tomato then i seen in the stores under the same name. But long shelf life, nice spray of egg shaped red cherries, and good for eating fresh. And think they reseeded.Did not replant tomatoes in that area. Will have to see if they come true.Plants are 6 inches high with flowers. Yea

I got my Campari tomatos at Wal-Mart here in central Florida. My first time eating them and I was so impressed I cut the name label off the plastic container and started looking on the internet and here I am....I didn't save any seeds this time, but I'm going back for more as these were the best tomatoes I've had in awhile. I will definitely try growing some and I definitely recommend them to all tomato lovers.

hello, looks like we have a fan club here of some very good tomatoes. I want to grow them this year (2011). I can plant in about a month-6 weeks, so I'm starting seeds soon.
How do I obtain Campari seeds? Do I just get them out of a campari tomato, let them dry, then plant them? It sounds too easy if true.
Thanks for any help,
Len

I have seeds from my ongoing Campari growout.

F4, F3, and F2 seeds are available.

Russ

Russmartin - are you selling them? What is the difference between F4, F3, and F2? Please email: anteloopy at yahoo.com

Greetings everyone!
I recently took some seeds from store bought campari tomotoes, dried them in the window on a paper towel, popped them in the seed starter and they germinated in five days.

Any idea if this variety is determinate or not?

Cheers

xRay

I am by NO means a tomato expert nor do I even eat them, lol.. However, My wife loves the Campari tomato's - We also raise box turtles and they love worms - we have a 1/2s wine barrel that we raise worms in - I feed the worms differnt types of food - one day late winter/very early spring - I had a few Campari tomatos that I had tried to feed the box turtles and they were not interested - I threw them in the wine barrel - mainly because I was too lazy to walk around the house to the garbage and maybe the worms would eat them as they rotted???? around the first of May or last of april - I saw two very small tomato plants spout in the wine barrel - paid very little attention but left them out of couristy.... We left for a 4 week road trip on May 17 and got home on June 12 - walk to the back yard and WOW - those two plants in the wine barrel were HUGE - yesterday I noticed several small tomatos and called the wife - the plants seem to be the Campari I threw in there - NO other tomatos were thrown in - the new tomatos look just like the ones she bought from Costco and the stock of the plant is very stout - agian, I am NOT an expert and these plants sprouted and grew with NO effort on my part - One thing I will say is that the dirt in the wine barrel is very fertile because of al the worm casting.. I can post a pic, IF I can figure it out here and if there is an interest.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/harley0711/T1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/harley0711/T2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/harley0711/T3.jpg[/IMG]

harley0711@yahoo.com if you want a pic emailed

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1318735}}

I saved some seed from a Campari that I purchased from Sam's Club back in the Fall 2011. I planted them in pots and they are currently loaded with tomato's. However, they are the strangest looking plants that I've ever seen. They have mitten shaped leaves that are about 6-8" long, and they are very "weepy" looking plants. The flowers were very large, but the shape of the tomato's that are growing on them are very true to what they looked like when I purchased them.

I actually bought organic comparison tomatoes at fresh market. Let one sit until slightly over ripe, sliced it into 1/2" slices, placed them in our lovely (sarcasm) florida soil, covered with 1/4" soil. And ten days later..had approx 20 seedlings. I thinned them down to 10 and added fertilizer. They are 3 weeks old and about 5"-7" in height and doing very well.

Dang phone..lol. sorry compari tomatoes